So Monday was windy and we were sitting in Toro, so was Tuesday, and so began Wednesday. There were three yachts waiting in Puerto Toro, two heading for Antarctica and us just waiting to go to the Horn, all had been watching the forecast and we were all sure that the breeze would drop at some stage during Wednesday. Jean from 'Boulard' was the first to crack, at about 8am, and called the Alcamar (coastguard) station in Puerto Toro to ask for the current conditions at the Horn. We all tuned to channel 14 on the VHF to listen in - Current conditions at Isla Hornos; wind 55 knots with gusts of 70 knots - Jean informed Alcamar Toro that he would wait just a little longer; we all concurred.

A couple of radio calls to check the current conditions later, around 14:00, we got the correct answer that the wind was dropping and all decided to leave. We had fair conditions for the trip south, a breezy Bahia Nassau but we did see a lot of whales, then through Paso Bravo at dusk across Canal Franklin to drop the hook in Caleta Martial just on dark. All to bed early for an early start.

Thursday morning we were all up at 6am, the espresso machine was on the stove and doing its magic as the anchor was weighed and we were away by 6:20am. Hmmmm typical weather for this part of the world, now we have no wind but we optimistically put up some sail as we headed east down Canal Franklin. We had a little breeze as we sailed south but approaching Cape Horn that died away and we had to drop the main to the third reef to stop it slatting in the swell. We sailed in nice and close around the Horn, inside of a cruise ship, the 'Via Australis', whose passengers lined the rails to photograph us - so if anybody reading this was on that ship; did you get any good shots?

We rounded the Horn and dropped the main in Caleta Leones. The beach looked very quiet with virtually no surge so Charly and our guests launched the Zodiac and headed for the beach whilst I stayed on Pelagic jogging off the Caleta to wait for them. The lighthouse keeper met the guys at the top of the steps that lead from the beach to the top of the cliff and invited them to visit the lighthouse, the albatross memorial and the chapel, naturally he also sold them a few t-shirts! 45 minutes later, clutching t-shirts but with lighter wallets the happy group returned and we set sail for Puerto Toro. North through the Paso Mar del Sur then Paso Bravo and into Bahia Nassau where we had a good breeze and sailed with full main and yankee whilst whale watching. We arrived back in Puerto Toro just before dusk and moored alongside a Centolla crab fishing boat who's crew assured us that they were not planning to leave until at least 11am - we had had a long day and did not want an early start!

Friday saw us sailing up to Puerto Williams, naturally the wind was on the nose and we had to beat up Paso Picton and despite making a 90 degree turn towards Isla Snipe and Paso Mckinley the wind stayed on the nose! Puerto Williams for mid-afternoon. It was Esben's turn to cook so he went off to find a restaurant for us to eat in and I went off to the Port Captain's office to apply for a zarpe (leaving port permit) for the Beagle channel and glaciers. Permit in hand, and a lighter wallet to the tune of 150 US dollars, I got back to the boat to find that as the only restaurant that the guys had found was closed we were eating on board. We made a plan to head west early-doors on Saturday morning, but now that crab fishing season is starting here there is no point traveling in the dark because of the danger of snagging crab pots, so early-doors became 6am.

I was awake from 4am onwards as I could hear the gentle hum of a light breeze in the rig - moored in Puerto Williams at the Club Micalvi that means that it's becoming a strong breeze out in the channel. Grrrr another beat ahead of us. Sure enough as we headed out around the sand bank the protects Puerto Williams harbour we could see the white-caps out in the channel. The breeze wasn't too strong initially, about 15knots, and we made good progress as we tacked west up the Beagle Channel but by the time we passed Ushuaia it was up to 25knots, then as we came abreast of Canal Murray we had 30+ knots and beating was becomming a chore. I decided to park up for the day and chose Caleta Letier, a tiny little bay on the western shore of Canal Murray. We moored the boat stern-to in a small cove with the stern pulled right into the kelp and found some shelter - lunch!